


Unsought Love Sweetly Found

by Ash_and_Ember



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: I'm Bad At Summaries, M/M, Michael does tech, Mostly Fluff, Mutual Pining, Post-Squip, Shakespeare References, boyf riends - Freeform, brief mention of Heathers, everyone is a theater nerd
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-03
Updated: 2017-12-10
Packaged: 2019-02-10 07:53:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12907506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ash_and_Ember/pseuds/Ash_and_Ember
Summary: Last year's disastrous play drew everyone together. Formerly their enemies, Jeremy and Michael are now friends with the popular kids, who are now all active members of drama club. The shared experience of being in a show together has a way of bringing people closer in unexpected ways.





	1. Chapter 1

After the spectacle of last year’s play, the popularity of drama club had skyrocketed. They were once again doing a Shakespeare play, but this time without the mutations. That didn’t mean that it wasn’t subjected to Mr. Reyes’ creative whims. Just before posting the cast list, he happily announced that in staying true to the bard, the female lead would be played by a boy. The school wasn’t happy with the prospect of not having any girls in the show, so he made the rest of the cast genderbent in a way only he understood. Rumour had it he had stormed out of the room yelling “Gender is a construct! Screwing with audience expectations is exactly what the Bard would’ve wanted!”

“Dude, I have so many lines!”

“Hey, you were the one who decided to audition for this shit.”

“Shut up, Michael. You’re supposed to feel sorry for me.”

“Let me get this straight- which might not go well, considering how not-straight I am- you are going to be playing a woman who is pretending to be a man? And you are the lead?”

“Yup,”Jeremy replied, making the p pop. “And Christine is the duke. Somehow Mr. Reyes thought this was a good idea”

“I don’t want to know what goes on in that man’s head. He’s going to be so difficult to work with on tech!” Michael groaned, his voice going low. 

The girl who was supposed to have been stage manager refused to do another show with Mr. Reyes. She did the musical because it was run by the chorus director. Michael did stage crew for musical, thinking it’d be fun to do something besides play video games. He also had wanted to be part of what Jeremy and Christine loved so much. He got trained as her replacement without knowing it at the time. 

“Why did he think I could do this?” Michael cried. “The only shows I’ve done are spring musical and the one at the community theater over the summer! I have underlings to order around now!”

Jeremy reached out and put his hand on Michael’s shoulder. “You’ll be fine. Honestly, Mr. Reyes will micromanage everything for the first few weeks, so you’ll have time to get your bearings.”

Jeremy’s prediction was proven true in the next few rehearsals. Even though they were still mostly doing read throughs, Mr. Reyes kept telling Michael his visions for the staging in minute detail. He knew exactly what he wanted the set to be, the blocking, and had already decided that stage crew would be in period costume. 

Every time he had an idea, Michael frantically scribbled it in his notebook and his copy of the script. He would leave rehearsal every day with ink smeared across his hand, and hair disheveled from running his hands through it. 

Organizing the rest of crew proved to be a Herculean task. Mostly freshmen and sophomores, they had limited experience but lots of opinions. The biggest challenge came from a girl who had been in two school shows, and thought she should be manager. Michael kept having to come up with “important” tasks to distract her. 

As stressful as it was, rehearsals really were a lot of fun. Michael knew why Christine loved rehearsals as much as she did. Michael got to organize everything, and the people in cast got to be someone else for a while. During breaks, they all got to hang out. Something about being stuck in the auditorium for hours with the same people made it almost impossible to hate anyone. Michael loved everyone one a little bit during rehearsals. 

 

Jeremy was ecstatic when Michael told him he got assigned stage manager. He like hanging out with his new friends, but didn’t want to leave Michael out of anything. Him joining theater was the greatest thing that could’ve happened. Jeremy didn’t have to feel like he was choosing between Michael or his other friends. During the spring musical, he had been absorbed into the new friend group.

Jeremy and Christine had broken up about a month before the show went up, but it wasn’t weird between them. What was weird was how Michael and Christine had become friends almost immediately. Although Michael was usually reserved when around new people or groups, he wouldn’t stop talking when it was something he was passionate about. Christine was the same way. Even though they were into completely different things most of the time, they would always find each other to excitedly talk about whatever new thing they had discovered. 

Michael was doing really well as stage manager, despite his worries. He sort of managed to get everyone to listen to him and he even managed to convince Mr. Reyes to change some of the background sets. He could focus all of his energy and enthusiasm onto a single task and complete it with remarkable efficiency. In contrast, he could fly around the stage and get twenty things accomplished that no one knew needed to be done. It was addicting to be around him. He made everyone feel like they could conquer the world, fly, anything they could dream of. 

Three weeks out from opening night, Mr. Reyes ended Friday night rehearsal early. Jeremy and Michael jumped at the opportunity to have some quality best friend time. They camped out in Michael’s basement surrounded by junk food, slushies from sev-elev in one hand, game controllers in the other. 

They traded insults back and forth with the comfortable ease of people who knew everything about each other. When Jeremy beat Michael for the fourth time in Mario Cart, he let fly an impressive string of compound swears in at least two languages. 

“Michael Mell, I am shocked!” Jeremy said in mock seriousness. “Never before have I heard such profanity! My innocent ears have been ruined by your vulgar display.”

“I could ruin the rest of your innocence with the other things my mouth can do.” Michael looked at Jeremy from beneath his lashes, and slowly ran his tongue over his lips.

“Oh fuck off, weirdo.” Jeremy shoved him off his bean bag chair. There weren’t enough shadows in the basement to hide the blush flaming on his cheeks. “Do you want to get food? I’m starving.”

Michael answered from where he lay on the floor. “I think we have a pizza in the freezer, we can go cook that. Also, weed? Parents are out tonight.” 

Jeremy paused. “Pizza yes, weed no. Not feeling it tonight.” He stood up, reaching his arms up over his head in a stretch. He offered a hand down to Michael, who was still lying motionless on the floor. Michael grabbed onto his wrist and let Jeremy pull him up. 

The pizza was only slightly burned; they forgot it was in the oven while having a Freddie Mercury impersonation contest.

“I hit the high note in Somebody to Love! I clearly won,” Jeremy said around a mouthful of pizza.

“Sure, you can sing higher than Christine, but you don’t have the personality. It’s all about presentation. My dance moves make me a better Freddie than you will ever be.” Michael struck a dramatic pose, which was impressive considering he was sitting on top of a counter, and holding a slice of pizza in one hand. 

“Michael! Food is to be eaten, not used as a prop to emphasize points!”

“So you admit that I have a point? That pizazz and flair is an important part of the impersonation?” He leaned forward, elbows on his knees, staring at Jeremy. 

Jeremy sighed in defeat. “Alright, fine. I admit you are a better Freddie than I. Your dance moves will always be better than mine.”

“Yesssss!” Michael crowed. “I am the greatest human being ever!” 

He burst into a horribly off key rendition of We are the Champions, making up his own words half the time. Jeremy couldn’t help but laugh, and try to sing along with the actual words. Being around Michael always made Jeremy lower his defenses. He didn’t need to keep to world out when Michael was there. He was lighter, livelier. Alive.

“Oh, hey. I found a new documentary about sea turtles. Want to watch it?” 

Michael’s face lit up with joy. “Yes! Jeremy, you are the second greatest human being ever!” He jumped off the counter with all the grace of a wet cat.

“Get your computer, I’ll find it online.”

They went up to Michael’s bedroom, and he gave Jeremy his laptop. Michael tapped out something on his phone, a small smile of his face as he typed. Once Jeremy found the documentary, the two of them curled up together on Michael’s bed, the laptop balanced precariously on their knees. The light from the screen washed over their faces and reflected off Michael’s glasses. After the turtle documentary ended, they found another one to watch about the fall of Rome. 

Time ticked on but nothing changed within the room. They stayed there, together, for hours. Even when Jeremy fell asleep against Michael’s shoulder, he continued to watch until the documentary was over. Gently, Michael closed the laptop and placed it on the table next to his bed. Without waking Jeremy, Michael shifted so that he could lay down. He too fell asleep, the two of them still together.

 

Sunshine streamed through the window, illuminating the two boys on the bed. While not angelic, they did look peaceful and content. Until the alarm went off. Both of them woke up abruptly, a tangle of flailing limbs as they tried to find the source of the noise. 7:30 was too early for the 1812 Overture to be playing. It was less than thirty seconds, but it felt like an eternity until Jeremy found Michael’s phone and was able to turn off the alarm.

“What the hell,” he said groggily, sleep still clinging to him. “It’s Saturday.”

Michael sat up, squinting without his glasses. “Yeah, I do know. But I have to go in for crew. Breakfast?”

“Yeah, sure.” Jeremy grabbed Michael’s glasses off his laptop on the floor. “Here you go.”

“Thanks”

The two of them went downstairs in comfortable silence. Jeremy made himself toast while Michael got a bowl of cereal. The routine of making breakfast together after spending the night was old and comfortable. They always knew where the food was in each other’s houses, and how the toaster worked. 

Half an hour later, they had both eaten and gotten dressed. Michael ran a hand through his hair, a futile attempt to get it to lie flat. 

“I can drop you off at your house and then head over to the school,” he said. “Do you have all of your shit mostly together?”

“Yeah,” replied Jeremy. “Or I could come to crew with you, if you want. It probably wouldn’t hurt to have an extra pair of hands helping?” 

“This… this is the nicest thing ever. You really don’t have to do this.” Michael’s voice was shaking and unsteady. “You’ll do anything I tell you without arguing. And you won’t bail on me because I’m your ride home…” 

He threw his arms around Jeremy and buried his face in his shoulder. Jeremy’s arms came up to wrap around Michael’s back. 

“Still having discipline problems with your underlings?”

“You have no idea,” Michael wailed, his voice muffled. “That girl, Madeline, still  
complains that she should be manager, and should be exempt from Saturdays because she’s on lights. The freshmen don’t listen all that well; it’s like herding cats.”

“You drama queen,” Jeremy said affectionately. “Come on, let’s go.”

 

Michael had been exaggerating, which didn’t surprise Jeremy all that much. He had always had a flair for the dramatic. There were only a couple of people who didn’t listen, and there were enough people. There just weren’t enough to do all the things Michael wanted to get done all at the same time. 

Jeremy got assigned to painting the background because, “All he had to do was paint inside the lines. There’s no way he could think of questions to ask about it.” He rolled up the sleeves of his favorite blue cardigan and got to work. 

Michael came out of his shell a little bit during rehearsal, but he was an entirely different person this morning. He strode around checking on the various things people were working on looking perfectly in control. Despite all the people and attention on him, he didn’t have his headphones on, nor was he twirling anything in his hands. Jeremy’s heart did a funny turn in his chest as he watched his best friend work. 

“Hey, sorry for snapping at you earlier,” Michael crouched down next to Jeremy. “I forgot you aren’t actually on crew and don’t know what’s going on.”

“It’s fine. This is your domain; rule over it as you wish.” Jeremy grinned at him. “I am your humble servant; I will do anything you ask of me.”

“Anything?” Michael raised an eyebrow and looked Jeremy up and down.

Jeremy shoved him on the shoulder, causing him to fall onto his back. “Oh, go find someone else to bother, weirdo.” 

He hoped his voice didn’t betray how shaky he was feeling inside. Michael got up, winked at Jeremy, and walked away. Jeremy tried to focus on the set piece he was supposed to be painting, but found it difficult. What was going on with him?


	2. Chapter 2

Tech week arrived in all of its stressful glory. The entire cast and crew was gathered in the auditorium, waiting for Mr. Reyes to give instructions before everyone got in costume. Jeremy expected Michael to sit with him, but he couldn’t find him anywhere in the auditorium. He resigned himself to killing time on his phone, and worrying about performing his scenes in which he was supposed to be in a dress. How was he supposed to move in it? He silently cursed Mr. Reyes, but couldn’t deny how fun the experience was.

Suddenly, the doors to the auditorium were thrown open. Michael, Rich, and Jake came hurrying in together. They were laughing about something. Jake and Rich split off to sit together, and Michael threw himself into the seat next to Jeremy. 

“I haven’t been friends with you for twelve years without recognizing your scheming face. What are you plotting, Michael?”

Michael adopted an innocent look. “I haven’t the faintest clue what you are talking about.”

“Yes you do! Just now, with Jake and Rich. You’re planning something!” He pointed a finger accusingly at his friend.

“You wound me with your false accusations!”

“You aren’t fooling anyone, Michael. If you won’t tell me, I’ll get someone else to tell me.”

“Good luck with that.” He leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms behind his head. 

Jeremy noticed, a bit belatedly, that Michael wasn’t wearing his usual red hoodie. Instead, he was dressed in the all black of stage crew. His black long sleeve shirt hugged his shoulders, which now had muscles from moving the heavy sets. He had traded his hat for a black headband that kept his hair out of his eyes. 

“...ever going to get here? I’d like to get home before 10 o’clock tonight.”

“Huh, what?” Jeremy had no idea what Michael had just said, as he had spaced out while staring at him. 

“You okay, dude? You were just staring at me. The Squip made you 93% more attractive, not me.”

Jeremy blushed furiously. “Uh, yeah. I’m fine. Just spaced out for a minute.” He ran a hand through his hair nervously, messing it up. 

Michael was still looking at him curiously when Mr. Reyes finally came on stage. Tech week made most people flustered and disorganized, but it had the opposite effect on Mr. Reyes. He was wearing matching socks, didn’t have any Hot Pockets to distract him, and had a mad glint in his eye. This was his element.

“Greetings, dear students! The time is upon us to put all of our work over the past few months to the test. You’ve all put in countless hours to rehearsal lines, and learn the blocking. Tech has flourished under the leadership of Michael Mell-” Michael stood up and took a bow. “- and now it is time to put everything together! We aren’t doing full makeup today, just costumes and wigs if you need them. I want all the leads back here in twenty minutes for mic check!” 

Everyone stood up at once causing a rumble of sound. People chattered excitedly over one another as they headed off to their respective dressing rooms. Christine was skipping away, loudly singing about how much she loves play rehearsal. Michael had as much uncontrollable energy as a puppy, and just as much enthusiasm. 

“Go get your dress, my fair lady,” he said to Jeremy. He spoke so quickly all the words were jumbled together. 

Jeremy put his hands on his friend’s shoulders. “Calm down a bit please. Deep breaths. Try not to spontaneously combust before it’s even opening night.”

Michael did take a few deep breaths, and looked better. Less unhinged. “I gotta go organize my people, get the headsets… I’ll see you at mic check, and then when this is over.” He pulled Jeremy into a brief hug, then stepped back. 

Jeremy watched him walk away, a ridiculous bounce in his step. Michael gave the best hugs, and he wished it had lasted longer. With a forlorn sigh, he turned and headed to the boys dressing room. 

The dress rehearsal started well, but quickly fell apart after the first half hour. People missed cues, props were forgotten, the timing of the lights were off, the wrong mics were turned on for scenes, and people were dropping lines. 

By the time they finally stumbled through the last scene, everyone was at each other’s   
throats. They always found someone to blame for why things had fallen apart. Michael was the main target since he was supposed to be in charge of all the technical things. Mr. Reyes tried to diffuse the tension while giving notes, but it was a futile attempt. No one listened to what he was saying. 

Leaving rehearsal was a much more subdued affair than it had been at the beginning. No one was joking around or laughing. Jeremy was waiting for Michael to drive him home, but saw that he was once again talking to Rich and Jake. He felt a twinge of annoyance seeing the three of them laughing about something. Michael gave Jake a light punch on the shoulder in parting and walked over to Jeremy. 

“Sorry to keep you waiting. I’m sure you’re more than ready to go home.”

“Yeah, I am,” he replied tersely. 

The walk to Michael’s car in the student parking lot was quiet. Michael kept glancing at Jeremy, but never said anything to him. It wasn’t until they were halfway to Jeremy’s house that Michael said something. 

“You okay? I know rehearsal was… a bit not good. It wasn’t your fault and you shouldn’t beat yourself up.”

Jeremy sighed. “Yeah, I’m fine. Rehearsals can only get better from here, right? And don’t beat yourself up either about the tech issues.” He didn’t say anything about Jake or Rich, or comment on why Michael could laugh with them after a disastrous rehearsal. The rest of the ride was in silence. 

“See you tomorrow, Jere.”

“See you tomorrow.”

Once again, the entire cast and crew were seated in the auditorium before rehearsal started. Once again, Jeremy couldn’t find Michael. He groaned in frustration, and went to sit with Jenna in the front row. 

“Have you seen Michael?”

Jenna shook her head. “No, he disappeared between last class and now.”

Christine came out on stage. “Hey everyone! Mr. Reyes isn’t giving announcements before we start today, but there is something else going on. As many of you know, theater is a place to make new friends, be different characters, and a welcoming venue for public humiliation.” Most people looked confused, but Jenna had a knowing smirk on her face. “True drama club members have done at least one weird thing that was embarrassing at the time, but can be laughed about later. Accidentally singing both parts in a duet, reciting dramatic monologues while drunk, having the principal walk into the room while you were singing My Heart Will Go On… Right now we aim to fully induct three new members of drama club into our ranks. Please welcome Jake Dillinger, Rich Goranski, and Michael Mell to the stage!”

Christine jumped off the stage and sat next to Jeremy. Everyone cheered as the three boys came on stage. Instead of his techie black, Michael was in his normal red hoodie. Rich was wearing an electric green shirt, and Jake had a yellow shirt that was just as obnoxiously bright. 

“What’s going on?” Jeremy whispered to Christine. 

“Sssshhhh.” She smiled. “Just wait.” 

Music came on over the sound system. It was familiar, but jeremy couldn’t place it. At least not until Michael started singing. 

I like looking hot, buying stuff they cannot  
I like drinking hard, maxing dad’s credit card

The three of them were doing a perfectly choreographed routine to Candy Store from Heathers. It was mortifying to watch, but Jeremy couldn’t look away. At the line “screwing him” they dropped into squats, and Michael pointed at Jeremy. The performance of the whole song was flawlessly executed, but he couldn’t stop thinking about that one moment. Or how good Michael’s voice sounded when he was singing. 

When the song ended, people jumped out of their seats, cheering. Michael, Rich, and Jake took their bows, and walked off into the wings. Christine got back onto stage. It took a while, but people eventually quieted down. 

“Since Mr. Reyes doesn’t have pre-rehearsal announcements, that’s all the entertainment you guys get before we start. Mic check in twenty minutes, and we’re doing full makeup!” 

The atmosphere had completely changed. Instead of being dejected and lingering on the disaster of last night, everyone was talking and laughing about what had just happened. 

“Christine, you evil genius,” Jeremy said to her. “You got everyone to relax!”

“I know!” she said gleefully. “It was a brilliant idea. But it wasn’t mine. Michael came up with this a while ago. They were originally going to do it at cast party, but moved it today.” She paused. “Oh, I don’t know if I was supposed to tell you that. Anyway, I have to get into costume now!” She left, leaving Jeremy more than a little bit shocked. 

Rehearsal did go a lot better than it had yesterday. All the tech things were pulled off without a hitch, Jeremy only tripped over his dress once, and no one missed a cue. Mr. Reyes couldn’t stop talking about how proud he was of them. The energy at the end of rehearsal was just as high as it had been at the beginning. 

Jeremy was half dreading the ride home with Michael because he didn’t know what to say to him. He needn’t have worried, since Michael talked so much Jeremy could barely get a word in edgewise.

“...It was because I wasn’t using the God-headset enough last night. Tonight was so much better because I could answer everyone’s questions, or let the lighting people know if the timing of something was going to be off. Best of all, they all listened immediately when I gave an order! I think they were afraid I would kick them in the face if they didn’t. Also, I stayed up last night marking up copies of the script so all the lighting and mic people knew what they were supposed to do when. I am so sleep deprived!” 

Jeremy groaned. “Please promise me you’ll go to bed when you get home, Mike. You can do homework later.”

“Yeah, yeah, I promise. See you tomorrow!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQOoTX1Nxx8 link to Candy Store for your listening enjoyment  
> comments and kudos always appreciated!


	3. Chapter 3

The last dress rehearsal wasn’t perfect, but it was a lot better than Monday. Thursday was opening night, and Jeremy couldn’t wait. This would be the first time he would be the lead in a play, since he didn’t actually get to perform last year. He got up early Thursday morning, too excited to stay asleep. He put on a pair of khakis, and a button up shirt with a sweater over it. Traditionally, cast and crew dressed up for opening night. He got to school early, and didn’t see Michael until first period.

Michael in a suit was not something he was prepared for. He had a black shirt, black pants, black jacket, and a red tie the same shade as his hoodie. His warm brown skin complimented by the darkness of his clothes. He had put gel in his hair. 

“Michael!” Jeremy exclaimed. “I didn’t know you had a suit.”

He spun around. “Never had a reason to wear it. Like it?” He gave another one of his dazzling smiles. 

“I haven’t seen you in anything besides your hoodie or a pacman shirt in so long, I don’t know what to think.” 

“You’ve seen me in a lot less in our twelve years of friendship.” Michael winked at him.

Jeremy blushed and stammered something out that didn’t really resemble words. Michael laughed. “I’m just messing with you, man. Come on, let’s go to English and see how many guys I can make question their sexuality!”

Michael strode off down the hallway, exuding confidence he didn’t usually show. Jeremy followed behind, thoughts spirally in an unrecognizable pattern. 

Michael was panicking a little bit. Why had he said that to Jeremy? He had casually flirted with him for two years now, but nothing as upfront as that. Or if he had been more direct, it was when he was high. What if Jeremy thought he was weird, and it ruined their friendship? He hid his worries behind an air of confidence that he didn’t really feel. 

The strangest part of his day was people noticing him. His hoodie and headphones had given him anonymity for so long, Michael was surprised when people complimented him on his suit, or teachers called on him in class. By the end of the day, it was overwhelming, but pretty cool in small doses. 

In the time between the end of school and report time for the show, Michael got his headphones and went with Jeremy to sev-elev. Opening night called for the special treat of large slushies. Red for him, and blue for Jeremy. Something about Jeremy’s behavior seemed off, but Michael wrote it off as nerves. He was still wearing the suit. 

Back at the school, the two of them hung out in the music department wing. No one was around, so Michael played his music out loud. He must’ve looked ridiculous, wearing a fancy suit without shoes, dancing to Bob Marley, and clutching his slushie. He didn’t care though; only Jeremy was around to see him, and there was nothing he’d rather be doing at this moment. 

It took a while to convince Jeremy, but eventually the two of them were dancing together in the hallway. It progressed to contests of who could slide further in their socks across the floor. It was simple, carefree fun, like when they were children. Michael watched Jeremy slide across the tile floor, a grin on his face that he just couldn’t get rid of. His whole body lit up with happiness when Jeremy spun around to smile at him. There was no one else who could make him feel so weightless and happy. 

“I’m really glad you’re doing the show with me,” Jeremy said out of nowhere. “After… after everything that happened last year, I wasn’t sure you’d still want to be my friend at all.” 

“You were a little shit last year, true, but you can’t ruin twelve years of friendship in a few months. You can come pretty damn close, but it’ll take more than that to run me off.” He slid across the floor to be closer to Jeremy. The two of them sat down facing each other. 

“I want everything to go perfectly this year, to erase last year. And I’m so sorry for everything I did to you. I can’t imagine how I would get through senior year if I didn’t have you.”

Michael got an unexpected lump in his throat. “Jeremy, you have to stop beating yourself up about this. Yes, you did some pretty bad things, but you weren’t in control all the time. I’ve forgiven you; now you need to forgive yourself.”

Jeremy gave a small nod and moved closer so he could rest his head on Michael’s shoulder. Michael pulled him into a hug. They stayed like that, on the floor curled together. 

“Thank you,” Jeremy murmured against his shoulder. 

Michael could tell that Jeremy was already doing better, but made no move to pull away from the hug. He was relieved that this wasn’t one of Jeremy’s bigger self-deprecation spirals. He generally had better self-esteem and confidence, but he still had bad days. Except sometimes he had Bad days. Those were the days Jeremy wouldn’t want to do anything, he speech patterns would be unusual, and he would stare off into space without seeing anything. They had gotten less frequent the longer the Squip had been deactivated, but Michael still dreaded that every time Jeremy had an off day it would turn Bad. 

He moved his hand up and down Jeremy’s back in a comforting way. “I’m here, you’re okay,” he said softly. Jeremy relaxed more, leaning into Michael. The music continued playing in the background, the happiness of Marley a counterpoint to their gentle sadness.

Too soon, the rest of cast showed up and Michael and Jeremy had to go off to their separate places. Michael ducked into the prop room to change out of his suit. He already missed it. 

For the next half hour, Michael ran around like a man possessed. He checked that the prop table was organized no less than six times, checked the batteries in all the mics and headsets, went up on the catwalk to check the lights, and made sure the lighting and sounds crews had their copies of the God Script. When he tried to check the prop table for a seventh time, Madeline grabbed his arm, forced him to sit down, and gave him a granola bar she seemingly pulled out of thin air. 

“You’ve already made sure everything is fine. Mr. Reyes is going to call mic check in a few minutes, sit here and just try to chill out. And eat the granola bar. You need something besides manic energy and a sugar high to get you through the night.” 

Michael just nodded at her. If he tried to speak right now, none of the words would come out right. Jeremy wandered into the prop room and found Michael sitting in a chair, just staring off into space. He stood in front of him, but got no reaction. 

“Michael?” he asked gently. Michael startled and jumped. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah… I was freaking out and trying to do everything, so Madeline told me to sit in here and relax. It’s actually working. Also, nice dress.”

Jeremy blushed. “Thanks. It’s an authentic replica of Elizabethan fashion. I can even walk without tripping now!”

“I’m proud of you!” He paused, listening to something over his headset. “Mr. Reyes wants leads and crew for mic check. Let us adjourn, dear lady.” He offered his hand to Jeremy, who took it. They walked to center stage, hand in hand. 

Mic check, cast circle, and the opening of the show passed in a blur. Michael was running on autopilot; his brain had taken a vacation. He was still amazed at his own audacity and boldness with Jeremy. Luckily, all aspects of tech were running smoothly and Michael didn’t need to answer any complicated questions. 

His brain turned back on around intermission when the plot got more convoluted. He needed to be aware of all the lighting cues that helped show which character was which, and helped make things less confusing. Of course, the audience might not understand the thematic subtleties of the lighting designed by Mr. Reyes, but Jeremy would definitely notice if something was off. He needed everything to be perfect for Jeremy. 

Everything continued going smoothly after intermission. There were a few small issues, but everything got sorted out and didn’t affect what was going on on stage. From the wings, Michael could see Jeremy, Christine, Rich and Brooke acting out their comedy of errors to perfection. The audience was howling with laughter as the cases of mistaken identities came to a head. Everyone watched raptly when either Jeremy or Christine did anything; they were clearly crowd favorites. 

During bows, Jeremy and Christine both got standing ovations. Crew came out to do their bows as well, and Michael could see Jeremy beaming at him. Opening night had been pulled off without a hitch, and Michael couldn’t be happier. He felt invincible. 

Jeremy hadn’t fully washed off his stage makeup when he left the school. He still had some eyeshadow on, and traces of the contouring makeup crew did to his face to make him look more feminine. Michael would never tell him, but it made him look good. He kept glancing at Jeremy out of the corner of his eye as they walked back to his car.   
It was because he kept looking at him that Michael saw the exact moment the exhaustion and stress finally hit Jeremy. One second he was walking normally, talking about the play, and the next his steps became uneven and he couldn’t stop yawning. 

“Ahhh… s s sorry. I g g guess the adrenaline finally wore off. God, I’m so tired.” 

“Good thing I’m driving. I don’t think you’ll be awake when we get to your house.”

Jeremy yawned again. “Probably… not. You’re the best, Michael.” He threw his arms   
around Michael, which made it difficult for them to walk. “And warm.” he muttered. 

“All right, get off me you sloth. I can’t drive with you draped on top of me.”

Jeremy became slightly more functional when they got to the car. He looked more alert, and was able to get into the car without falling over. 

“I didn’t tell you today, not really, but you looked good in that suit. Like, really good.” 

Michael’s heart thudded. He tried to be casual. “You didn’t look half bad yourself.” 

“No, I looked like a dad. You were hot.” Jeremy’s tone was laced with iron strong conviction. It was the voice he used on stage. 

Michael was stunned into silence. He knew Jeremy was speaking out of exhaustion, but a small part of him was whispering that Jeremy knew exactly what he was saying, and he meant it. He didn’t dare hope that maybe, just maybe Jeremy really did think he was hot, because it would only lead to more helpless pining on his part. He laughed, but didn’t say anything back to him. The rest of the ride to Jeremy’s house was silent. 

 

Cast and crew came into school the next day in their pajamas. They still had three shows to go through, and it was going to be a tough weekend. Getting to wear pajamas in school made it slightly more bearable. 

Jeremy decided on his Tardis pants with a faded Player 2 shirt. He half hoped Michael would wear his matching Player 1 shirt. The other half of him hoped he wouldn’t see Michael today, because that would force him to think about last night when he said Michael was hot. He had been ready to pass out from exhaustion, and hadn’t been able to stop the words from escaping. He had probably thrown a wrench into their friendship. He had fixed things from last year when he acted like a dick because of the Squip, but calling his best friend hot was probably going to make things weird.

He had never seriously questioned his sexuality before. Sophomore year, he had briefly flirted with the idea that he was bi, but didn’t come to a definite conclusion. Maybe it was time to revisit that idea. He couldn’t deny that he was having some… not platonic thoughts about Michael. Or that sometimes he liked the guy characters in movies better than the women. Jeremy sighed. He would deal with this later, after the play. 

The school day passed in a blur. He saw Michael during lunch, and nearly choked on a fry when he saw what he was wearing. Michael had on a dark blue onesie, rainbow socks that went halfway up his calves, and a pair of slippers. His hair looked like he had gotten out of bed without touching it. He had really gone all out on comfort.

Stemming the turmoil roiling inside him, he sat at his usual table Christine, Rich, Jake, Brooke, and Michael, who had gotten up to buy food. 

“Jeremy!” Christine called brightly. “I’m so glad you’re here! We need you to settle an argument!”

“Yeah, what is it?”

“Would Rich make a good stripper?”

“Obviously, I’d be amazing,” Rich said in his own defense.

“Oh hell no,” said Chloe. “No would want to see...that” she made a vague hand gesture encompassing Rich’s entire body. 

The table descended into chaos, everyone yelling at each other without actually being able to hear what anyone else was saying. Michael sat down beside him, slushie and school lunch of questionable origins in hand. “What the hell is going on?” 

“They’re fighting over whether or not Rich would be a good stripper.”

“Ah,” Michael paused, considering. “I could see it.”

Rich somehow managed to hear Michael. “Ha,” he cried triumphantly. “Michael agrees with me, it’s settled.”

Before the argument could continue, Jeremy called out to Rich. “Hey, what was up with dress rehearsal on Tuesday? I still can’t believe that happened.”

Rich laughed. “Oh man, that wath tho much fun! Mell came up with the idea and dragged me and Jake along for the ride.”

“Yeah, but why did you do it?” He turned to Michael. “And of course you can sing! What aren’t you good at?”

Michael grinned, a glint in his eye, but didn’t offer any explanations. 

Jake jumped in to answer. “He told us he had an idea for this hilarious thing to do at cast party. Rich agreed to it immediately, without having heard what it was. We ended up doing before rehearsal though, to try to cheer you- uh, everyone up.”

“How high was he when he came up with this?” Jeremy asked.

“Pretty sure he wasn’t. He texted us about it three weeks ago, and the text was too coherent for him to have been high.”

“He did the whole thing. I offered to help with choreography, but he only wanted me to help with form,” Christine chimed in. 

“And he asked to make sure I recorded it!” Jenna mostly used her talents for uncovering secrets for good now, but she had had an evil grin on her face that afternoon. 

“Okay, but I still don’t know why you did it, Michael!”

“I thought it’d be funny. Being on crew, I never get to go on stage or perform. I thought it’d be fun to get in front of people and, y’know, do something.” He looked at Jeremy. “Besides, the look on your face was priceless.” Michael winked, and Jeremy felt his face go bright red.

‘I...uh what?” 

“Oh, you’re so cute when you’re flustered,” Christine said with a laugh. “Right, Michael?” Out of the corner of his eye, Jeremy saw Rich making a kissy face at him. He was confused. Everyone knew that Jeremy and Christine had broken up, and didn’t plan on getting back together. He wrote it off as Rich being his usual self. What he didn’t see was Michael shooting a death glare at Rich and blushing furiously. 

“Well, as fun as it was to perform,” Michael said in a voice that was as relaxed as a woman in the 18th century in a corset, “I’m going to stick with crew. You guys can get all the credit, but I’ll work the miracles from backstage. Now if you’ll excuse me, the couch in the prop room is calling me. I must go take a nap.” He stood up from the table in a fluid motion, put his hand on Jeremy’s shoulder in parting, and left the cafeteria.

Jeremy didn’t have butterflies in his stomach; he had a flock of ravenous eagles soaring around. He could still feel Michael’s hand on his shoulder. Were his lips always that red, or was it from his slushie? Jeremy was so screwed. Did this mean he was bi, or was it just Michael? How could he have fallen for his best friend?


	4. Chapter 4

Despite having drifted through most of the day like a zombie, Jeremy was alert and ready to go when the curtain opened. He had already performed once, and was ready to do even better tonight. As a bonus, tonight was cast party. He hadn’t gone to any parties since the one at Jake’s house last year, but cast party was different. The only people who would be there would be drama people, and they couldn’t get too drunk because they still had to perform the next day.

Going on stage meant that Jeremy couldn’t think about Michael. While he was playing Viola, and probably confusing the hell out of the audience, he couldn’t think about the problems of Jeremy’s life. He fully became his character and gave the performance of his life. 

Backstage, Christine was gushing over how amazing she thought Jeremy was. “You were the perfect scene partner tonight! All your emotions were portrayed so well, and it didn’t seem weird at all that you were a guy pretending to be a girl pretending to be a guy!” She hugged him enthusiastically. 

Jeremy changed out of his costume and into his street clothes. He wasn’t wearing pajamas to cast party, but rather his jeans and his favorite blue cardigan. Wearing his normal clothes brought him back to reality. Time to go find Michael. 

“You gotta tell him! Stop avoiding it.”

“No way! I’ve broken Rule 1 of being gay, which is never fall for a straight person. I’m not going to break Rule 1 subsection A, and tell him!” 

“What’s the worst that can happen?”

“... for so long. I can’t lose him.”

“You aren’t doing yourself any favors, Michael. You gotta confront your feelings… actually said he’s straight?”

“Well, no…” 

“So do it, man! Go find your printh in shining pearls and tell him… Or I’ll tell him for you.”

Jeremy know he was overhearing a private conversation between Michael and Rich, but he couldn’t stop listening. He couldn’t think of a single good outcome from announcing his presence. He kept listening, frozen with indecision. 

“Rich, no! I’ll… try to tell him soon.”

“Promise? I may be tiny but I am strong and will kick your ass if you chicken out.”

Did Michael like someone? He had come out years ago, but never mentioned being interested in anyone. Who was it? And why did Jeremy feel sad when he thought about Michael having a crush? He walked away, back towards the dressing room so they wouldn’t think he had heard the conversation. 

Jeremy had planned on waiting until after the show to confront his feelings, but everything felt too overwhelming right now. If he didn’t say anything, he’d explode. He gathered every bit of courage he had, and waited for Michael. 

Michael found him a few minutes later. “Hey man, I’ve been looking all over for you! Ready to go to the party?” He had ditched his techie clothes in favor of his hoodie but still had eyeblack smeared across his cheeks. He looked ridiculously cute.

“Yeah, I am,” Jeremy replied, fighting down a blush. “There’s ah, something I have to tell you. When we get to the car. Too many people here.” No going back now.

The two of them walked out into the night in silence. Jeremy was fighting back nerves, and trying not to shake too much. He was rehearsing in his head what his was going to say to Michael. They got into his car, and Michael looked expectantly at him. 

“So. What’s up?”

Jeremy looked at his lap where his hands were twisted together. “Okay, so… I think, I think I’m bi.” He looked up. Michael’s expression was a mix of shock and joy. He never experienced singular emotions. That was one of the things Jeremy liked so much about him. Michael felt everything fully and experienced things in multitudes.

“Jere, that’s… I’m so glad you told me. I’m guessing I’m the first one?” Jeremy nodded. “I need to hug you, this is huge!” He leaned across the center console to hug Jeremy, who was trembling like a leaf. “Coming out is hard, but you know I’ll always be here for you, right?”

Jeremy nodded against his shoulder, and pulled away slightly. “One more thing,” he said, voice unsteady. “I figured this out thanks to you, Michael. I think you’re really cute, and I like you in a more than platonic way. I’m sorry if this ruins our friendship, but I feel like you had to know. Especially because I heard you talking to Rich earlier, and I know you have a crush on some guy.”

Michael was looking at him in shock. “You like me? I caused your sexuality crisis?”

“Yes.” Jeremy’s voice was almost a whisper. “I’ll understand if you don’t want to be my friend anymore…”

Michaels hands came up to cup his face. “No, Jeremy, no! I was talking to Rich earlier about you. I’ve liked you since freshman year, but I thought you were straight, or that you wouldn’t ever like me back!”

Jeremy met Michael’s eyes. “Really?”

“Yes.”

They both leaned forwards, and in the soft light of the car, they kissed. Michael’s lips were soft against Jeremy’s and they moved with a quiet confidence. He was so warm under Jeremy’s fingertips. They pulled apart, foreheads touching, and just stared at each other. 

“Wanna skip cast party? My parents are out of town.” Michael’s voice was low and rough, and it did things to Jeremy’s stomach. 

“Hell yes.”

**Author's Note:**

> In Shakespeare's time, women weren't allowed to perform on stage, so there really would be a man pretending to be a woman pretending to be a man. And Shakespeare would 100% be on board for messing with people.  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kijpcUv-b8M here is a link to the song Michael and Jeremy sing.  
> This is un-beta'd, so all mistakes are completely my own. Updates will be frequent. Comments and kudos are appreciated!


End file.
